2009/8/5 Benedict Adamson <yahoo_at_k5fC8LmRo76AT14OxpWqANhERRsWBZm1Jk3Vs5lUqmkBv8qTGJF4bsJFyDbe3vDHFQ_x97b6JhKhs0Z3R-5CLzML.yahoo.invalid>:
> ...
>> Hazars were the professional elite of the army, manned by a
>> hereditary class of warriors riding upon heavy mailed war horses. The
>> other professional soldiers, nearly all of whom prayed to Saint
>> Humakt before battle, were known as 'Humakti.' They were supported by
>> unreliable irregulars: levies, mercenaries or foreigners.
>
> If only the non Hazars are called Humakti, that supports Humakt not
> having a cavalry aspect. This is our most recent source, so we ought to
> give it most weight.
I'm very curious about the provenance of this document and the
interpretation of the weight given it!
("Significance" in documents is a personal and professional concern of mine).
The bit about "any trick or ruse" being allowed in the same paragraph as the above extract certainly suggests that the Carmanian approach to Humakt is very different to the Orlanthi! I'll note that there isn't much about the manner in which the "Humakti" professionals fight... perhaps they are also cavalry, but are not of the appropriate hereditary caste to be consider hazars? Possibly they are companions or "sergeants" to the hazars and are outfitted in similar, though less opulent, fashion?
The reference to The Twelve Commands certainly suggests some orderly pragmatic source for military doctrine, I am afraid that I simply don't know enough about the Carmanian history to suggest who might have produced such a work, perhaps Carmanos as you suggest?
--
John Machin
"Nothing is more beautiful than to know the All."
- Athanasius Kircher, 'The Great Art of Knowledge'.
Powered by hypermail